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Budget wish list in Pasco topped by public safety

 
Among the spending proposals to be considered by Pasco commissioners is a plan to add ambulance service in northeast Pasco and along the U.S. 19 corridor in west Pasco.
Among the spending proposals to be considered by Pasco commissioners is a plan to add ambulance service in northeast Pasco and along the U.S. 19 corridor in west Pasco.
Published May 4, 2017

NEW PORT RICHEY — Pasco commissioners want to put more ambulances on the road, keep libraries open longer and perhaps take less money out of your pocket if you go to a county park.

What they haven't figured out is how to pay for it all, particularly against the backdrop of rising law enforcement costs and the prospect of a $12.5 million cut in property tax revenue in 2019.

"We have to be very thoughtful in the process with anything that's reoccurring,'' County Commission Chairman Mike Moore said after commissioners spent Tuesday morning listening to budget pitches from their own staff.

"That will make your decisions more difficult,'' said retiring County Administrator Michele Baker.

Reoccurring expenses in the next county budget and beyond will be drawing extra scrutiny because of the Legislature's intent to schedule a referendum on an additional $25,000 homestead exemption in 2018. The House version of that bill would cost Pasco County government more than $10 million from its general fund, plus more than $2 million from its fire department budget if the tax rates remain status quo.

Meanwhile, Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco, who was not at the commission meeting, has asked for a nearly $8.2 million increase in his budget to pay for the final installment of a three-year payroll increase and for new positions and operating expenses. If approved, the sheriff's budget would be $118.8 million, a 7.4 percent increase.

The big unknown right now is how much money the county will have to spend. That information won't be available until Property Appraiser Gary Joyner determines the size of Pasco's tax rolls. A 4 percent increase would net the county about $4.4 million in its general fund for all purposes beyond transportation. A 7 percent jump in property values would generate $8.2 million in unencumbered revenue or enough to cover the sheriff's budget request and leave $25,000 available for all other new initiatives.

"We produce a budget that's need based, and we don't know how much money they have,'' Nocco told the Tampa Bay Times. "We want to work together. The pay increases is the top priority. We don't want to get into another cycle of losing our experienced deputies to other agencies in the region.''

A 4 percent salary increase for all county employees would cost an additional $2.2 million.

The commission had its own priorities during the budget workshop, including expanding social services in Dade City and elderly nutrition in Elfers. But there was no consensus on expanding library hours or scrapping the parking fee at nine county parks.

As he has in the past, Commissioner Jack Mariano wanted to kill the $2 parking fee and $60 annual park pass, which generates $322,000 a year. He suggested a higher tax rate rather than cutting other parks programs, which could include $200,000 worth of field maintenance and the county's aquatic programs.

Eliminating the fee "will increase our quality of life,'' said Mariano, who suggested it would also boost tourism if the county advertised "all our parks are free.''

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Commissioner Kathryn Starkey repeated her past skepticism.

"If you keep cutting our budget we're not going to have a parks department,'' she said. "I just totally object to taking any money from our parks.''

The library staff proposed a three-year plan to increase library hours, including a first-year expansion at Land O'Lakes and Regency Park. It would cost $325,000 initially and nearly $1 million by the end of the third year to restore library hours to their 2007 levels. Libraries are now closed Mondays and only open one evening a week.

"We've got to come up with a way to come up with the money,'' said Commissioner Ron Oakley. "We've got a great demand to give services to our citizens.''

Other budget proposals included:

• Beginning ambulance service at Station 34 near Lacoochee in rural northeast Pasco and adding an ambulance at Station 11 on Massachusetts Avenue in west Pasco. Combined, it's a nearly $1.3 million expense from the general fund, a portion of which would be reimbursed through transport fees.

• Hiring plans examiners, emergency services supervisors, a battalion chief, an operations chief and a public information officer and buying a fire rescue boat and a platform ladder truck for Pasco Fire/Rescue. The total cost is more than $2.8 million.

• Add a new bus route to Shady Hills at a cost of $735,000.

• Turning the empty Stallings building on 14th Street in Dade City into a one-stop community center offering 4-H activities, health and nutrition classes, business and entrepreneurship workshops, a community garden and other programs to serve an area where more than a quarter of the children live below the federal poverty line. The projected cost is less than $33,000.

• Beginning a $20,000 program to aid seniors using the CARES Elfers Senior Center and to encourage them to take advantage of the meals provided by Elderly Nutrition.

The new fiscal year begins Oct. 1. The county traditionally releases its budget proposal in July, when it is further scrutinized by commissioners and subject to two public hearings in September before final adoption.